Freedom and Fighting
by qeaz22
Summary: When Hiccup tells his dad that he really, finally shot down a night fury, will he believe him? If he does, what good can come out of that? Freedom and fighting, that's what.
1. Chapter 1

**Hey people. First of all, thanks for checking out this story. Second of all, tell me what you think of it in the reviews. Third of all, enjoy!**

* * *

"Okay but I hit a night fury. It's not like the last few times dad. I mean I really actually hit it. You guys were busy and I had a very clear shot. It went down just off Raven Point. Let's get a search party out there, before it-"

Stoick set hiccup down rather roughly.

"Stop. Just…stop. You always tell me you've shot down a dragon but when we look for it, it's never there."

Stoick sighed and ran his hand down his face.

"Fine. One last time. If the dragon's not there, you're grounded in the house for a week. Gobber! Gather the men! We're going in the forest!" Stoick ordered. He then turned to face Hiccup.

"You stay right here and help clean up the mess you made." He said disappointedly, lumbering away.

After Stoick had left, the teens came up to Hiccup.

"Quite the performance back there!" Tuffnut jeered.

"I've never seen anyone mess up that badly!" Snotlout sneered.

"Thank you, thank you, I was trying so…" Hiccup muttered, walking past them.

* * *

Gobber shuffled up to Stoick sheepishly.

"Ehm, Stoick? Some of us, not me of course, were wondering, what exactly are we looking for?" Gobber asked.

"A night fury," was Stoick's blunt answer.

Stoick carefully surveyed the area.

"Now where could that dragon be…" he muttered, slowly searching the forest.

It was nearing twilight and Stoick was on the verge of giving up. Suddenly, a shout rang through the forest.

"I FOUND IT! I FOUND THE DRAGON! OVER HERE!"

"Shhhh! Do you want to get killed you idiot?!"

Stoick pushed past bushes and branches until he got to a small trail of dirt where all the plans seemed to had been uprooted.

"What the..." he breathed, observing a large branch that was broken halfway down a tree and bending towards the ground.

He followed the trail of dirt a to a low drop and found what he was looking for.

"Get ready," he called to the others, "We're bringin' this beast home."

* * *

The whole village was gathered in the killing arena. Everyone was cheering and congratulating Hiccup when Stoick stood up from his seat to make a speech.

"Today, my son Hiccup becomes a hero, and as a father, I couldn't be more proud!" he bellowed, "He has shot down one of the most dangerous dragons in the entire world, the night fury! Bring it in and see how weak it is against us Vikings! I am proud to say that my son Hiccup, who was previously the worst Viking Berk has ever seen, will have the honor of killing it!"

Three burly Vikings wheeled the dragon into the arena. It was strapped onto a wooden board with an uncomfortable looking muzzle attached to its snout. The poor thing tried to break free from its binds but its efforts were fruitless. Hiccup watched this from his seat next to Stoick with a sick feeling inside his stomach. His eyes came in contact with the dragon's for a moment so brief it almost didn't happen. The dragon was scared.

Gobber walked over and pulled the lever to open the door of one of the cages. The burly vikings stopped pushing the wooden board in front of the cage and 2 of them worked to untie the ropes. The one keeping it down roughly and mercilessly pushed it into the cage. Gobber flung in a piece of fish that flopped onto the ground before closing the door of the cage with a big bang. All the Vikings who came to watch cheered as the teens lifted hiccup up on their shoulders.

"Yeah… I am so honored… thank you, thank you…" he said halfheartedly. Hiccup just couldn't get the look the dragon had worn out of his mind and it puzzled him to no end. Dragons were supposed to be ruthless killers right? So why did this one look... weak? Afraid? Like he saw himself inside it. Saw himself inside it...

* * *

It was late at night and all the vikings were snoring all the way to Valhalla. Well, almost everyone. Hiccup threw the piece of roped he'd "borrowed" from Gobber out his window. He silently slid down the rope, careful not to wake his dad. Somehow, he'd managed to take a small candle, a piece of fish and his pocketknife with him. He would've used the front door but it sounded like a dying yak in the silence. He quietly slunk out of the village and when he was sure he was out of sight, he ran all the way to the killing arena and clumsily slid under the gate. Hiccup scanned the arena and picked out the door of the night fury's cage. Setting his candle and fish down, heaved himself onto the lever and tried to open the door. He winced at the loud clanking sound it made when it rose.

Hiccup picked up his things and tentatively ventured into the inky darkness of the cage.

"H-hello?" he called out nervously.

He let out a startled yelp when he saw two green eyes staring at him from a corner of the cage. He walked closer to the dragon, holding out the fish.

"I-uh, I brought some food for you," he said.

The dragon looked hungrily at the fish before sniffing something and growling at something under Hiccup's vest. Hiccup lifted it up saw his pocketknife. He touched the knife and the dragon growled even more. He quickly but clumsily pulled it out and threw it out of the cage, far from his reach. The dragon's expression softened and its head slowly moved towards the fish. It opened its mouth and Hiccup only saw pink gums where teeth should have been.

"Huh, toothless, eh. I could've sworn you had-"

The dragon's teeth shot out and it quickly grabbed the fish and gulped it down, narrowly missing Hiccup's hand.

…teeth."

The night fury looked at Hiccup for a while before bonding over and sniffing hiccup, forcing him to sit against a wall.

"Uh, no, no, I don't have anymore."

The dragon paused for a moment before it began to regurgitate half of the fish it had eaten. The fish landed with a squelch on Hiccup's lap. The dragon moved its head from the fish to Hiccup's face over and over again. After a while, Hiccup got the message. He brought the wet, raw fish up to his mouth and took a bite. He put on an expression of fake delight at eating the fish when in reality, he felt like he was going to hurl. The dragon made a little forward movement with his head as if it wanted him to swallow the repulsive fish. Hiccup put on an expression that said, _**Oh come on. You have got to be kidding me.**_ but swallowed the fish with a shudder. Suddenly, he realized something.

"You're not bound anymore. They took off the muzzle and the ropes. Oh Thor, I'm in a cage with night fury that's loose. Oh nonononono…"

Said night fury just cocked his head at Hiccup's nervousness. Hiccup began to back away from the dragon and closer to the door. The night fury just sat there with such an adorable questioning look that hiccup almost didn't want to close the cage doors. Almost. He pulled the lever and door came slamming down, once again trapping the night fury in the dark confines of the cage. Hiccup picked up his pocketknife and started to make his way back to the village. It was only when he was in bed and was about to fall asleep when the realization of what he just did hit him full force.

"Odin's ghost, I just befriended a night fury!" he whispered to no one in particular before slipping into unconsciousness.


	2. Chapter 2

**I edited the first chapter. Go check it out before you read this one 'kay. It ends differently. Yes, you have to if you want to understand this chapter. And thank you all you fabulous people that have followed and favourited this story!**

Sunlight filtered in through the small cracks in the roof. Hiccup shifted in his bed and blearily rubbed his eyes. He groaned and sat up, swinging his legs to the floor. As he made his way down, Stoick looked up and smiled.

"Morning dad," Hiccup greeted sleepily.

"Hiccup!" Stoick bellowed, spreading his hands out.

"Now that you've shot down that night fury, we finally have something to talk about! Who would've thought of it eh?" Stoick said shaking his head and patting Hiccup's, "All of this..unvikingness shooting down the unholy offspring of lightning and death itself!"

Hiccup grinned sleepily. "You just gestured to all of me."

Stoick chuckled and suddenly remembered something. "Oh! I almost forgot! I want to give you something."

Hiccup yawned while his father dug through a wooden chest. Stoick held up a helmet with a horn on each side. He placed it in hiccup's hands and watched proudly as Hiccup examined it.

"Your mother would've wanted you to have it. It's half of her breast plate." He said.

He then smiled and tapped his own helmet. "Matching set. Keeps her close, you know?"

Hiccup grimaced and wiped his fingers on his sleeve, nodding. "Well uh, thanks for the… breast hat?" He said, standing up to leave. "I should uh, probably go now," He said, awkwardly stepping towards the door. Stoick stood up to follow Hiccup but by the time he got outside, his son was nowhere to be seen. He looked around for a few seconds searching for Hiccup then shook his head. _**I have more important things to deal with. **_he thought, walking towards the village.

Hiccup ran as fast as his skinny little legs would take him. His destination? The killing arena. _**I have to find out more about that dragon. **_he thought to himself. The arena was deserted and deadly silent. Every now and then, Hiccup could hear the scratching noises of dragons trying to break free from their prison. Hiccup made his way to the lever of the night fury's cage. He pushed down with all his might and inch by inch, the door rose up. Normally, Hiccup could handle the other doors but this particular one was so heavy even Gobber had some trouble opening it. As soon as the door was open, a black figure pounced on Hiccup, forcing him to lie on his back. It growled in his face wearing a killer look.

"Uh -um, nice dragon?" Hiccup stammered.

The dragon withdrew its head and its expression softened yet remained wary. It huffed and stepped off of Hiccup, walking away from him.

"I-uh, brought some more fish," hiccup offered, holding out a relatively large sack of fish. The dragon stared at Hiccup and licked its lips, eyeing the fish. It cautiously moved towards the sack of fish looking back from Hiccup to the fish to Hiccup again. Hiccup picked up the sack and spilled all of its contents onto the floor.

"Ugh, that's disgusting. So let's see," he said, "We have some salmon, some nice Icelandic cod…" he paused to watch the night fury eat for a while. "Oh, and a whole smoked eel too." Hearing that, the dragon reared up and screeched at the pile of fish. Hiccup panicked and dug through the repulsive pile looking for the eel.

"Hey, it's okay, it's okay. Yeah, I don't like eel much either…" he said trying to calm the dragon down. Hiccup threw the eel off to side and wiped his hands on his fur coat. The night fury snorted and returned to gulping down the fish while Hiccup sat off to the side, observing it. Hiccup scooched over and tried to touch the dragon many times but failing. At last, Hiccup gave up and resorted to just drawing the dragon from afar. By then, it was the golden hour on Berk ;the night fury had finished killing the fish a second time and was trying to get some sleep.

After a while, it became intrigued in what Hiccup was doing. It waddled over to where Hiccup was drawing. Hiccup saw the night fury out of the corner of his eye but pretended not to notice and kept doodling. The dragon left Hiccup's side and Hiccup heard a loud splash followed by several others. He looked up from his drawing to see water dripping from a black tail and many small puddles around the water trough. His eyes followed the dragon as it bounded around the arena making water trails. When the overexcited dragon finally stopped wetting the floor, Hiccup stood up from his seat and looked around.

Hiccup inwardly groaned seeing as he was stuck in the middle of a mess of squiggly lines. He tried to move out of the night fury's so-called drawing, accidentally stepping on one of the lines. The dragon growled threateningly as if he was saying _**don't you dare ruin my masterpiece**__. _Hiccup winced and continued to move out of the wet trails trying not to step on anymore lines. He was so preoccupied with avoiding the lines that he didn't notice himself getting closer to the night fury with every step until he bumped into it.

Hiccup could feel the soft, warm breaths of the dragon breathing down his neck. He tentatively turned to face the dragon and extended his hand to touch him. The dragon growled softly but defensively. Hiccup decided to take a huge leap of faith and turned away, still keeping his arm outstretched. The night fury hesitated for a moment for a few tense seconds. At that moment, a bond that defied all Viking tradition was formed as the night fury leaned in and touched the boy's palm with his snout. Hiccup, shocked, surprised and relieved that his hand hadn't been chewed off, lifted his head a little to look at the dragon. It shook its head and huffed and was about to leave when it heard footsteps. The dragon tensed and his earplates went back ever so slightly.

Hiccup looked into the distance through the doorway and saw a short, large figure with a yellow head. Could it be…?

"Hiccup?" a voice yelled, "Where are ye? We're 'avin chicken tonight! Ye don't want to miss such a feast would ya lad?"

Yup. Definitely Gobber. Hiccup was panicking.

"Oh no, we can't let Gobber see you bud! He'll tell dad that I'm committing high treason by talking with dragons or, or trying to kill the dragon earlier or just spending time with the dragon out of its cage and then my dad will think that I'm trying to do something bad and mess up again! We gotta hide you Toothless!" he said, worried.

"Hiccup? Ye in there?" Gobber called, nearing the arena.

Hiccup tried to push Toothless back into the cage but the dragon refused to move, instead growling at the door.

"Please, Toothless! Get in! I can't let them find you! I'll take care of the rest just, please get in! I promise I'll come back! Gobber doesn't want to hurt me, Toothless! Please! You're the first friend I've had"

Toothless broke his hard glare from the strange yellow-haired man to look at this Hiccup boy he'd befriended. One glance at his worried, pleading friend was enough to send Toothless racing back to cage before you could even blink. Hiccup pulled down the lever of the cage just as Gobber walked in.

"Hey, Hiccup. What's on the floor?" he asked cheerfully.

"uh… U-um…waterrrr… doo…dles?"

"Water doodles? In the killing arena?"

"Yeah... water doodles."

"Water doodles. Ok, well, are ye coming to eat or not? The chicken won't heat itself you know."

"Yeah, I'm coming. Just give me a minute and I'll be right there."

"Alright lad." And with that, Gobber left leaving Hiccup alone in the arena once again.

Hiccup sighed. "That was way too close." He turned around and opened the cage again. He was met with big adorable green eyes staring at him. He sighed again and said, "Toothless, I'm really sorry but you're gonna have to stay here." Toothless crooned at this. Hiccup sighed again.

"Sorry." And the gate slammed down once again.


End file.
